1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toothbrushes, dentifrices, and other articles for cleaning one's teeth, and particularly to various forms of a siwak tooth cleaning instrument that provide dental appliances incorporating a siwak for brushing one's teeth.
2. Description of the Related Art
The siwak (also commonly referred to as a sewak, miswak or miswaak) is a natural toothbrush commonly used in Islamic communities. Muhammad, the prophet of the Islam religion, recommended its use, and brushing one's teeth with a siwak is now seen as an act of worship.
A siwak is typically made from the twigs or sticks of the Salvadora persica (commonly known in Arabic as Arak or Araak) tree, which grows in the Arabian Peninsula and in some parts of Asia and Africa. Traditionally, when the arak tree is not available, other types of trees have been used in the formation of a siwak-type stick for brushing of the teeth; namely, the olive tree, walnut tree, peelo (sometimes written as peelu in English) tree, and the neem tree. Other trees with substantially bitter roots may also be used.
The siwak made from the roots of the Arak tree is considered to be particularly advantageous, in that the tree root acts as a natural toothbrush with toothpaste. Chemical analysis has shown that the root contains natural substances that act as antiseptic agents, killing harmful microorganisms in the mouth. Further the root includes tannic acid, which has an astringent effect for protecting the gums against gum disease, and also aromatic oils, which aid in increasing saliva production.
Users typically carry a siwak with them for frequent brushing of their teeth. Unlike a conventional toothbrush, the siwak does not require an additional dentifrice, such as toothpaste, to be carried with it. Further, usage of the siwak does not involve typical toothpaste-related practices, which some may find offensive, such as vigorous brushing, the foaming of the toothpaste in and around the mouth, and spitting of the toothpaste and saliva.
A typical siwak is a relatively straight twig or stick, approximately eight inches in length. If the stick is dry, it is generally immersed in water prior to use. Prior to application to the user's teeth, the user scrapes off approximately ½ inches of bark from one end of the stick. The scraped tip is then gently chewed to separate the stick's fibers, thus forming bristle-like elements at the end of the stick. These bristle-like fibers are then brushed against the teeth (and used for massaging the gums) in a conventional manner. Following brushing, the chewed and bristled tip is washed with water and stored in a clean location. After the bristles lose their aroma and/or taste (indicating that the tannic acid and aromatic oils have been removed through the brushing process), they are cut off, and the user creates a new bristled tip, as described above.
In practice, the above process may be impractical for modern users. A user may forget to carry his or her siwak, sanitary locations for storage may not easily be found, and users in mixed cultures may find it inconvenient to use the siwak stick. A portable and sanitary siwak-based tooth cleaning system would be desirable. Thus, a siwak tooth cleaning instrument solving the aforementioned problems is desired.